Comeback win for Cape Breton Screaming Eagles

Declan Smith of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, left, and Kelly Klima of the Chicoutimi Saguenéens chase the puck during the first period of Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action Wednesday at Centre 200. Cape Breton won in overtime, 4-3.T.J. Colello/Cape Breton Post

Cape Breton erases two-goal deficit to defeat Chicoutimi in overtime

SYDNEY

It wasn’t a toe drag followed by a laser beam of a shot just under the crossbar, but Justin Lazure will take it.

The 18-year-old winger from Châteauguay, Que., sneaked a shot over the shoulder of Chicoutimi Saguenéens netminder Alexis Shank on a bad angle for his first Quebec Major Junior Hockey League goal, Wednesday, to tie the game in the third period.

Lazure pulled the trigger on the equalizer and Drake Batherson ended it for Cape Breton in a 4-3 overtime win in front of 2,047 fans at Centre 200 on Wednesday. The game was the first of back-to-back home games for the Screaming Eagles, who host the Shawinigan Cataractes tonight at 7 p.m.

“It feels so good,” Lazure said of the goal. He made the team as an undrafted free agent. “I worked pretty hard during the last few years to play in this league.

“I just shot on the net.”

Blue-liner Leon Gawanke showed some nice patience to wait for a streaking Batherson alone in front of the Sags goal, who outwaited Shank to end it at 2:27 of the extra frame.

“I think Leon saw me getting held up a bit,” said Batherson, who has 10 goals and six assists in 11 games this season. “When buddy let me go, I just drove to the net and he had a nice, fake slapshot, fed me and I put it in.

“We’ll take any two points we can and it’s a great confidence boost going into (tonight). We’re going into (tonight) looking for the same outcome.”

The Saguenéens opened the scoring in the first on a Samuel Houde breakaway. Alexis Gaboury-Potvin would add to that advantage early in the second.

But the Screaming Eagles responded in a big way, thanks to their leading scorer. Batherson broke in and roofed a shot over the shoulder of Chicoutimi netminder Alexis Shank to get Cape Breton on the board. On a Screaming Eagles power play midway through the period, overage blue-liner Ross MacDougall sailed a shot through a screen to even the score.

Two minutes later, Chicoutimi forward Kelly Klima jumped on a loose puck in the slot to put the visitors up again heading into the third.

The home side would pull even midway through the third period on Lazure’s trick shot. That set the stage for Batherson, who recorded his first multi-goal game of the season.

Chicoutimi kept Cape Breton on their toes all game by floating a forward along the Screaming Eagles’ blue-line. A Cape Breton defender, however, was assigned to keep watch, and it resulted in 4-on-4 hockey with play in the Saguenéens’ zone.

“It’s a grinding win. We grinded our way into that game,” said Screaming Eagles head coach Marc-André Dumont. “They were playing a different type of hockey with a forward out cherry picking at the second blue-line all game long. They did that because they didn’t want to face our 5-on-5.

“Hats off to them for developing a strategy to try and stop us, but that’s not going to stop our group. Our players showed a lot of resilience and persisted in the play.”

In goal, Kevin Mandolese put in a solid effort in the win, making 25 stops and evened his record to 3-3-0-0. Shank battled in the loss, making 26 stops.